Packaged meat cut and method of preparing it



July 21, 1936. A G HEWI T 2,048,447

PACKAGED MEAT CUT AND A METHOD OF PREPARING IT Filed Jan. 15, 1954 2Sheets-Sheet 1 July 21, 1936. A. G. HEWITT PACKAGED MEAT CUT AND AMETHOD OF PREPARING IT Filed Jan. 15, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 PatentedJuly 21, 1936 UNIT D STATES PATENT OFFICE PACKAGED MEAT OUT AND METHODPREPARING 1'1 Alfred G. Hewitt, La' Grange, lli., assignor to TheVisiting Corporation, a corporation of Virginia Application January 15,1934, Serial No. 100,130

' tion is a continuation in part of my co-pending application, 8. N.519,142, filed February'28, 1931.

The improved method is preferably practiced by inserting a previouslycured meat cut in a seamless tubular casing formed from cellulose, or acompound thereof, the casing being first moistened and expanded so thatit will fit snugly on the meat cut. The meat cuts are preferably ofsomewhatregular form i. e., the meat cuts are preferably substantiallyconstant in cross section throughout a relatively large part of theirlengths. But relatively short meat cuts may be employed having asomewhat egg-like shape ii it is so desired.

The meat cuts are preferably forced through a stufllng horn, or theequivalent, into the expanded tubes or casings, the horn beingpreferably of such construction that it tends to compress the meat cutsand to smooththe outer surfaces thereof so that the packaged meat cutswill have a neat, smooth appearance.

After the meat cuts have been prepared as described above, they aresubjectedto the usual smoking operation. During the smoking operationthe cellulose covering shrinks upon the meat cut and conforms to theshape thereof so that it forms a closely fitted container therefor andmay be left thereon when the meat is sold to the customer? If the meatis to be boiled, it is preferably boiled in its cellulose container.

Smoked meats prepared by practicing the improved method have a pleasingand appetizing appearance and the loss of weight which accompanies thesmoking operation is small as compared with the loss of weight whichusually accompanies the smoking process as it has been practicedheretofore. The usual tough and bitter rind which is found on smokedmeats is absent when the improved cellulose container is employed asdescribed above. The container is preferably transparent and when theimproved method is practiced, the meat out has a very pleasing colorwhich is visible through the transparent container.

Other advantages of the invention will become apparent as the followingdetailed description progresses, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, wherein Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a length of seamlesstubing as it appears before the meat is inse'rted therein.

Fig. 2 is an elevation of a meat cut su table for insertion in thecellulose tubing shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of apparatus for stuiiing meat cutsintocellulose tubing.

Fig. 4 is a'sectiosi taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3. 5 Y

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary section through a stud"- ing horn which formspart of the apparatus shown in Fig. 3, a meat cut and a length ofcellulose tubing being shown with the horn.

Fig. 6 is an elevation of the meat cut shown 10 in Fig. 2 as it appearsafter it has been packaged in the cellulose container shown in Fig. 1,and v Fig. 7 is an elevation of a slab of bacon packaged in a length ofseamless cellulose tubing.

To facilitate the detailed disclosure of this invention, it is best tostate that meat cuts are smoked to preserve them and to give them anappetizing color and a pleasing flavor. Usually the meat cuts are firstcured. Among the meat cuts commonly smoked are sweet-pickle and drysalthams, shoulders; clear and rib bellies, rib backs, loins and bonelessbutts. The usual procedure is to cure these cuts, soak them for a shorttime in water, and then wash and trim them if i that is necessary. Themeat cuts are then shrinkage continues after the smoking operation.

This loss of weight frequently reaches or exceeds 15% of the initialweight and is accompanied by the drying up of meat juices, causing lossof flavor and causing the meat to become tough. The smoked meats alsohave a dry, tough rind which is bitter to the taste and must be removed;this represents a loss. The appearance of the final product is usuallyunappetizing as it looks dark, greasy and dirty. However, as statedabove, the interior of the smoked meat has an appetizing color.

In practicing the improved method, to produce smoked meat cuts, seamlesstubing formed of cellulose is employed as the container for the meatduring the smoking process. This seamless cellulose tubing or casing ispreferably formed from a viscose or solution of cellulose xanthate whichmay be obtained by practicing the method briefly described in U. 8.Letters Patent No. i,6l2,508

granted to William F. Henderson and Harold E. Dietrich'December 28,1926. This viscose is extruded {through an annular orifice to form theseamless tubing which is then subjected to coagulating and regeneratingbaths. The excess co-,

agulating and regenerating liquids are washed from the tubing and it isthen treated with a softening agent, preferably glycerine. The tubing iswet when it leaves the glycerine bath and may be employed in thiscondition in practicing the present invention, if it is so desired,although in most instances it is preferable to dry the tubing after ithas been subjected to the slycerine bath.

One reason for using cellulose tubing which has been dried after beingsubjected to the softening agent is that the film forming the tubing isstronger than the film of tubing which has not been dried. Anotherreason for utilizing dry tubing is that data can be printed much morereadily on the dried tubing. In the practice of the improved method, thedry tubing is wet with water before the meat cut is inserted therein.

In practicing the invention, the previously cured meat cuts are washedand drained if necessary and are then inserted in seamless tubes formedof cellulose or a compound thereof, one of these tubes being shown inperspective in Fig. 1 of the drawings and being identified by thereference character ill.

The tubing employed is preferably smaller in diameter than the meat cutso that it must be stretched or expanded when the meat cut is insertedtherein. 'The diameter of the meat may be reduced in a press, or theequivalent, and inserted in the tubing in its compressed condition sothat it will subsequently expand and stretch or expand the tubing whichis in a wet condition. In practice, the meat is preferably extruded froma stuffing horn directly into the tubing.

- The thickness of the tubing will be determined by the strength that isrequired. Large and heavy cuts which must be supported by the coveringwill require a relatively thick walled tubing. For example, it has beenfound that for meat cuts weighing 5 to 8 pounds, a tube 3% inches indiameter and having a wall of .003 to .004 inch thick when dry, givessatisfactory results. Such a cover will support the meat suspended in itduring the smoking operation. If the meat is placed in a tray during thesmoking operation, or suspended in a cradle of string, a thinner walledtubing can be used.

Seamless cellulose tubing formed by extrusion as described above may beexpanded or stretched laterally a relatively large amount withoutfailure thereof. Thus, if a piece of dry tubing is moistened, it may beexpanded or stretched laterally to increase its diameter about 75%before it tears. In practice, the tubing is generally not expanded orstretched laterally more than 33%% of its diameter. v smoking operationit tends to shrink and where the meat is somewhat irregular in shape anda portion of it is of less diameter than the expanded tubing, the tubingwill shrink to conform to the shape 'of the meat unless it is veryirregular in shape. In tubing having a larger diameter than the meatemployed, the tubing must shrink to the size of the meat and this mayresult in a wrinkled container for the meat, the container generallyhaving air, fat or water pockets. Also, tubing which is larger than themeat cut and is not stretched laterally or expanded when the meat isinserted therein, does not adhere to the meat sufficiently to give thepackaged meat cut a pleasing When the tubing is dried during theappearanca- If too large a tubing is employed, the container and meatseparate when the packaged cut dries and it loses much of its pelasingappearance.

In Figs. 3, 4 and 5, apparatus is shown for stuifing meat cuts intocellulose tubing. This apparatus does not form a part of this inventionand is more fully shown and described in the copending application, S.N. 626,965 filed July 30, 1932 by John Paul Smith. Briefly, the stuffingapparatus comprises an upper section II and a lower section i2, the sidewalls of the sections being in slidable engagement with each other sothat the lower section i2 may be displaced (depressed) in a verticaldirection relative to the upper section it. The sections ii and I2 arepreferably formed from sheet metal and preferably comprise taperedportions i i and iii, respectively, which provide a large opening it atone end. The discharge ends of the sections ii and i2 form a tubularportion or horn i8 over which the tubing it may be shirred asillustrated in Figs. 3 and 5. The upper section ii is rigidly secured toa pair of bracket plates 2! which are secured to a base plate 22. Thelower section I2 is se- A spring 3i is ably urge the lower section l2 inan upward direction.

When a meat out such as is shown'at 35 in Fig. 2 is inserted into thelarge end of the stufling device shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5, it may beforced through the stuiiing horn l8 by means of a stick or ram 36. Thisoperation is illustrated in Fig. 5. Power operated rams are used to alarge extent and it is obvious that the pressure to which the meat issubjected compresses it and makes it conform'to a large extent to theshape of the horn. In practicing the improved invention, the meat is ofsuch size or diameter that the stufling horn l8 must expand against theaction of the springs 3| and 32 when the meat cut 35 is forced throughthe stufllng horn IS. The meat out should not cause the stufling horn toexpand the shirred casing in more than 33 /i% of its diameter.Preferably, the shirred casing or tubing I0 is expanded more than 10% ofits diameter, although a small degree of expansion will give goodresults. It is essential, however, that in practicing the preferred formof the improved method, the casing should be expanded so that it willnot wrinkle when it dries upon the meat out. It may be mentioned at thispointthat longer horns are used for the longer meat cuts.

As illustrated in Fig. 3, the wet tubing or container I0 is shirred uponthe horn l8. The outer end of the container may be tied before or afterit is placed in the horn. Then, as illustrated in Fig. 5, the meat cut36 is forced through the horn l8 and as it passes from the horn it, itdraws the shirred container l0 over it. After the meat cut 35 has beenforced into the container ID, the other end of the container is tied sothat the completed package appears substantially as illustrated in Fig.6 wherein the tied ends are shown at 38. The meat cut is then subjectedto the smoking operation and during this operation, the container driesand shrinks where the meat does not prevent such shrinkage. In fact, thetubular container becomes closely consolidated with the surface of themeat cut, forming a closely adhering skin-like covering therefor. Asexplained above, if'the wet container has been expanded to receive themeat cut, it will not wrinkle when it dries over the smaller portions ofthe meat. Of course, the tied ends of the container will be wrinkled,but substantially all of the meat will be visible through the casing ifit is transparent in accordance with the preferred practice. The smokedmeat out has an extremely pleasing appearance as distinguished from meatcuts which have been smoked by practicing the usual methods. The colorof the improved packaged meat cut appears bright and clear to thepurchaser.

. duced, usually to less than half in the case of fat meats. I

It will be readily understood that the cellulose tubing prevents thedeposit on the meat of bitter compounds from the smoke and makes itunnecessary to dry out or "crisp" the outer surface of the meat. Hence,there is no waste of meat. -The consumer need only to peel oil thetubing to leave a tender, edible surface of meat below it.

The flavor of meats smoked in the improved covering is much improvedbecause nearly all of the juices are retained, the only loss being aloss of water and this loss is smaller than the loss of water through anatural or animal casing. Also, nothing but water can pass through theimproved container while fat passes through natural or animal casingsincluding animal bladders. When smoked meats are subsequently boiled inthe-covering, it is obvious that the juices of the meat are retainedduring the boiling operation and an improved flavor results.

An important feature of the invention is that the cellulose container isnon-putrescible. It is exceedingly sanitary and protects the meatagainst contamination from handling, insects and contact with otherobjects.

While the thin continuous film which I have provided for covering smokedmeats is preferably formed from regenerated cellulose", it is understoodby those skilled in the art that the film may also be described as onecontaining cellulose -hydrate, particularly when the film is in awetstate. I also contemplate the use of a cellulose ester, such ascellulose acetate, to produce films of the character and for the purposeset forth.

In the appended claims, the phrase "plastic cellulose compound" isemployed to define a class of substances which includes cellulose,cellulose hydrate and cellulose ester.

In Fig. 'l, a slab ll of bacon is shown in a seamless cellulose tube II,the tube ll having been expanded while wet before the bacon was insertedtherein. The ends of the tubing are tied and it is provided with acradle ll of string whereby the package may be suspended during thesmoking operation.

While I have shownand described certain embodiments of my invention, itis to be understood that it is capable of many modifications. Changes,therefore, in the construction and arrangement may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the inventionasdisclosed in theappended claims, in which itis my intention to claim all noveltyinherent in my invention I as broadly as possible, in view of the priorart.

I claim:

l. A method 'of preparing a smoked meat cut, which method comprisesexpanding a wet seamless tube derived from plastic cellulose compound,compressing the cut and simultaneously inserting itin said expanded tubeto fit snugly therein, closing the ends of the tube, and smoking the cutwhile it is thus enclosed.

2. A method of preparing a smoked meat cut, which method comprisesforming a seamless tube from a plastic cellulose compound, drying thetube, wetting the tube, expanding the tube while it is wet, compressingsaid out and simultaneously inserting it in said expanded tube, andsmoking the out while it is thus enclosed.

3. A method of preparing a smoked meat out which comprises stretchingand diametrically expanding, while in wet condition, a seamless tubederived from a cellulose derivative, and introducing the meat cut intosaid tube while the tube is in stretched and expanded condition, andsmoking the meat out while enclosed within said tube. whereby theelastic properties of the meat cut and the tube will maintain a constantfirm contact between the meat cut and the tube.

4. A method of preparing a meat out which comprises stretching anddiametrically expanding, while in wet condition, a seamless tube derivedirom a cellulose derivative, said tube having one end closed and securedin closed condition, introducing the meat out into the stretchedexpanded tube through the open end thereof,

action of the meat cut will maintain a firm contact between the meat cutand the tube.

armnnonnwrrr.

